Zhao Zhen was scolded to the point of bloodshed. He could only smile and say, "But I have no choice. The world needs officials to govern. If all these people are dismissed, who will govern the people?"

"You are truly hopeless. If you don't remove these people, they will only oppress the people and cause them to rebel."

"You should be thankful that you found me in the back garden. If I had fallen somewhere else, I would have killed all the officials and started a rebellion. Kill all those officials who constantly oppress the people, not a single one is innocent. And you're still putting them on display. You're truly sick!"

After these words, Zhao Zhen fell silent.

"By that time, the entire Song Dynasty will be in even greater chaos. Forget about the Industrial Revolution. Even if you want to stabilize your current regime, it will be impossible."

"The key to maintaining power is balance. The civil service clique has become a monstrous beast. While they won't directly overthrow your dynasty, they will constantly harm it. They will cause the Song Dynasty to rot and stink. The slightest clash of external and internal forces will cause it to explode like a powder keg."

For example, there were five articles in the Qingli New Deal that were aimed at clarifying the administration of officials, which showed that Zhao Zhen was very determined to reform the officialdom at that time.

But in the end, it came to nothing. The voices and waves of opposition were too great for him to bear the pressure.

How could he not know this?

In history, he had launched several reforms and issued some edicts to investigate and punish corrupt officials.

He wanted to insist on Fan Zhongyan's reforms, but he didn't want his reforms to make too much noise, so he wanted to drag Zhao Jun into the officialdom.

Once he entered officialdom, people from all directions would flock to him, wanting to curry favor with him. Countless people would give him land, money, valuable calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, and women. These things were not considered illegal in the Song Dynasty.

Now that he knew the reasons for the failure of the Qingli New Deal, Zhao Zhen was still afraid. He was afraid that the civil servants' opposition would surge like a tide, that all the officials of the Song Dynasty would stop working, and that the Song Dynasty would collapse in an instant.

So he is still suffering these days.

After a long while, Zhao Zhen slowly said: "It's not that I don't understand these principles, but..."

"Just what?"

Anyway, it would take several years before Lao Fan's reforms came after the war with Western Xia. By then, Zhao Jun would have adapted to the officialdom, and it would be too embarrassing for him to kill it.

But it was obvious that Zhao Jun was still full of passion. After seeing the tip of the iceberg, he was filled with resentment and came to him, pointing at his nose and scolding him.

Zhao Jun sneered, "In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang slaughtered tens of thousands of people at a time. Can you guess how much of an impact that had? Actually, as long as you're ruthless, it's not impossible to accomplish anything. If you can't do it, I'll do it for you."

"what you up to?"

"But if officials are arrested, imprisoned, or executed on a large scale, do you know how much unrest it will cause?"

"hehe."

Zhao Jun said calmly, "Although they can't directly overthrow your dynasty, once they've oppressed the people to the point of no return, they'll be the direct cause of your empire's downfall. If you don't rein them in in time, or at least make them moderate their behavior, even if you defeat the Western Xia and Liao, the fate of all dynasties will be the same as that of the Song Dynasty."

During the Song Dynasty, the emperor always had only one way to deal with civil servants, that is, to dismiss them, transfer them to officials without real power, or demote them to Lingnan.

Zhao Zhen widened his eyes. He was most afraid that Zhao Jun would do something too extreme.

"I want the Imperial City Bureau, and I want it spread across the entire Song Dynasty, like the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. The power of the bureaucrats and literati is already too great, seriously threatening your imperial power. No matter how stupid you are, you should strengthen your power and take certain judicial and judicial powers into your own hands. Otherwise, the civil servants will not be afraid of you, they will only treat you like a fool and fool you!"

The civil service group could not threaten the imperial power like the aristocratic family group in the Jin Dynasty, but in order to compensate for the civil service group and allow the civil service group to suppress the forces of military honors, generals, relatives of the emperor, eunuchs, etc., the civil service group had to be given other powers without restrictions, such as not killing criminals, arbitrarily embezzling and perverting the law, and oppressing the people.

The result of this was that the power of military officials, generals, relatives of the emperor, and eunuchs was suppressed, but the people suffered. Seven out of ten officials in the country were corrupt and abused their power, land annexation was serious, and the lower classes were living in poverty, and finally there were constant uprisings and rebellions.

The civil servants were not a monolithic group. There were many idealistic officials, such as Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, who wanted to make a difference and reform the system.

Therefore, the internal strife within the civil service group, coupled with the emperor's power to dismiss officials, can form such a delicate balance.

"They oppose it because you are strengthening the imperial power and threatening them. Moreover, the Imperial City Bureau is a minion of the imperial power. By bypassing the civil service system, they are intimidated."

Zhao Jun looked at him indifferently and said, "Do you know how the future world hegemon, the United States, controls the world? They have several spy agencies that gather intelligence all over the world, intervening in and controlling global conflicts. Only when any political system has its own intelligence and special agencies can it consolidate central power! Instead of sitting in the palace and knowing nothing."

Therefore, Zhao Jun has been instilling in Zhao Zhen the idea that the civil service group must be suppressed.

But Zhao Zhen was still hesitant and said hesitantly: "If it is like the Jinyiwei, I am afraid that all the officials in the court will oppose it again."

"I find it really hard to talk to you. You're so hesitant and indecisive. Your attitude really makes me want to quit, you know?"

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